Special Issue "Assisted Reproductive Techniques and Germplasm Cryopreservation Applied to Wildlife"
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Wildlife".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 February 2022.
Special Issue Editors
Interests: cheetahs; wild species; felid; carnivore; reproduction
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Many wild species are difficult to reproduce naturally ex situ. Behavioral, physical or physiological issues may be involved. Furthermore, for many species, we do not understand enough of their basic biology to reproduce them efficiently. Assisted reproduction is a crucial aspect of managing these species. Areas of interest include understanding basic biology to improve assisted reproduction; cryobiology; and assisted techniques to improve reproductive success for managing reproductive events in wild species.
Dr. Adrienne E. Crosier
Dr. Pierre Comizzoli
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- artificial insemination
- in vitro fertilization
- embryo transfer
- cryopreservation
- gamete rescue
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Authors: Diana Koester1,2, Morgan Maly3,4,5, Sarah Putman6, Katie Edwards7, and Adrienne Crosier3
Abstract:
Although cheetahs have been the subject of reproductive study for over 35 years, ovarian and adrenal hormone activity are poorly described in pregnant and non-pregnant animals after natural breeding and artificial insemination (AI). Utilizing fecal samples collected at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), our objective was to measure and compare fecal progestagen (fPM), estrogen (fEM), and glucocorticoid (fGM) metabolite concentrations and patterns in females that were either pregnant (PREG) or experiencing a non-pregnant luteal phase (NPLP) following natural breeding or exogenous hormone stimulation and AI.
Fecal samples were collected a minimum of 3x/week from 12 females for at least two weeks prior to (PRE) through 92 days post-breeding/exogenous hormone injection Samples were divided into trimesters for statistical analysis. Fecal profiles were classified as 1) PREG (n=15), confirmed by birth of cubs; 2) Natural NPLP (n=7), categorized by a luteal response after natural breeding, but no cubs born; and 3) AI NPLP (n=5), those with exogenous hormone administration and AI, but no cubs resulting. Fecal samples were assessed for steroid hormone concentrations using enzyme immunoassays with antibodies previously validated by SCBI in cheetahs (fPM: CL425; fEM: R4972; fGM: R4866).
Measured fPM followed expected patterns from previous studies for pregnant and non-pregnant groups. For all groups combined, fEM were lower in the first trimester (p<0.01) and higher in the third trimester (p<0.01) than PRE concentrations, but second trimester were not different (p=0.8668). There were no differences among groups in fGM, but in PREG females, concentrations were higher (p<0.01) in the last trimester than any other time. Interestingly, for PREG females that gave birth to singletons, fGM were higher (p=0.0205), but fEM tended to be lower (p=0.0626) than those with multi-cub litters. Our results provide additional insight into the physiological events surrounding natural and artificially stimulated luteal activity in the cheetah.